Tour Down Under 2017

The night before the Bupa Ride we had the heaviest rain I've ever seen! There was an inch of rain in 20 minutes. I spent the evening— my early night— clearing drains and helping flood the backyard to keep water out of the house.  So, despite best intentions, I was still awake at midnight, with the alarm set for 3.45.

It rained enough on the way in to make visibility a problem, but being still 22 degrees, it was quite comfortable. The day got colder— down to 13 degrees, with hints of spitting all morning after the 6.30 start from Norwood. I'd wondered if I was overegging it taking a winter weight jacket for the ride home, but was very glad of it at Mt Pleasant round midday. I left it on until Lobethal and the climb up to Nuedorf Road.

And took some pleasure showing a couple Queenslanders that being 62 you have enough experience to cancel out  being 21 and having a nice light carbon frame. I was very pleased to be in about half an hour before the peloton.

Down near Castambul I heard my LBS owner yelling comments on my cornering technique from the side of the road— like the voice of God— if only God was as clear to hear as Gavin is— so I rode some of the route back for practice. The ride back up was delightful; quiet, sun on the back, and the typical Adelaide Hills sunset views. I went back as far as Mt Pleasant— Charleston to Mt Pleasant is a lot easier than the reverse— and then took the Cricks Mill route to Williamstown, jumped over to Lyndoch and came home on the bike path and Coventry Road.

All up, 315 km at 20.1. I was very pleased to only drop .3km on the ride home, given that it's uphill most of the way to Lobethal.

Trip Time   18:47:30
Riding Time   15:40:01
Riding Distance   315.08 km
Altitude Gain … 3281 m
Avg Temperature.. 18 ^oC
Avg Speed   20.1 km/h
Max Speed   67.6 km/h
Uphill Avg Speed    15.2 km/h
Downhill Avg Speed…26.7 km/h

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